If you are also trying to find out why external hard disk cannot be detected? Well this article is for you.

An external hard disk that suddenly stops showing up in your computer can create a quick panic for you when it comes to backup files, important office supplies, photos, videos or business documents. In most of the cases your drive is still working physically but where Windows cannot detect the partition correctly due to driver issues, file system corruption, power issues or due to faulty USB controllers.

“I have plugged in an external hard disk of 1TB on my Lenovo laptop. When I tried to open the disk partition, I found that external hard disk was not there. I don’t know why my external hard disk cannot be detected. As there were lots of important data saved in my Seagate drive so I need to get back my data. Thus, I tried to fix this issue but only the light is blinking. If you know any reliable solutions then please help me to resolve this issue. Your help would be appreciated!!”

The worst mistake users make at this stage is they start formatting or initializing the drive immediately to make it reusable but that’s not the right approach. This action can reduce the likelihood of successful recovery chances. In this guide you will learn why an external hard disk cannot be detected, what are the correct ways you can use to identify the exact cause and the best methods to recover your files without data loss.

WARNING – DO NOT FORMAT THE DRIVE IMMEDIATELYIf Windows shows you messages like:

  • “You need to format the disk before you can use it”
  • “Disk Unknown Not Initialized”
  • “Drive is inaccessible”

Then you must not click Format or Initialize unless your data is already backed up as formatting may overwrite partition metadata and make recovery quite harder for you.

Why the External Hard Disk Cannot be Detected?

There are various factors that can cause the problem where people cannot find their external hard disk in the in disk management of the system. Some of the main reasons are discussed below:

  • If latest Windows OS update or upgrade automatically on your machine
  • External hard disk data deleted or hidden due to virus or malware attack
  • When a user tried to log in with a new user account on their machine
  • If USB port in PC is found in not working condition
  • Once the external hard drive driver is running out of date
  • When an external Hard disk fails or hard drive goes bad itself
  • A sudden failure of an external hard drive

Check If the External Hard Drive is Detected in Disk Management

The external hard drive is not recognized in the system due to various reasons. Before going towards the solution, first look at the method to check the external hard drive whether it has appeared or not from the disk management. If it is not displayed then what is the reason behind this. For this purpose, follow these steps:

  1. First of all, press Windows + R Key to open Run dialogue box.
  2. Type diskmgmt.msc into the Run dialog box & press Enter key.
  3. Now, all details of the hard drive displayed in front of you.
  4. It will help you to find out the reason why your external hard disk cannot be detected.

How to Get Rid of “External Hard Drive is Unrecognizable” Error?

In order to fix this problem, first, you should try to use a different USB port and use a virus cleaner software then check hard disk whether it is displayed or not. If it is still unrecognizable, then you should try to use alternate solutions which are discussed in this section.

Solution 1: Uninstall Hard Drive Driver

  1. Click on the Start >> type devmgmt.msc & press Enter key.
  2. Open Device manager >> expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers >> check the external hard drive whether it is recognized or not.
  3. If it is not detected, then go to the Driver tab & delete or uninstall the driver.
  4. Then, reboot or restart your PC and again check the disk management.

Solution 2: Assign or Change the Drive Letter

Sometimes the drive is running but it cannot be reached because Windows cannot assign a drive letter.

Change the Drive Letter

Steps

  1. Open Disk Management
  2. Right click the external partition
  3. And Select: “Change Drive Letter and Paths”
  4. Click Add or Change
  5. Assign a new unused letter
  6. Click OK

If the partition becomes accessible then you must immediately copy your important files to another storage device.

Solution 3: Check the Drive in Device Manager

If the drive does not appear in File Explorer but shows inside Device Manager, the issue may involve:

If the drive does not appear in the File Explorer but if it does appear in the Device Manager then you will notice the the following problem:

  • Driver corruption
  • Hidden devices
  • USB controller conflicts

Steps

  1. Open Device Manager
  2. Click View → Show Hidden Devices
  3. Expand:
  • Disk Drives
  • Universal Serial Bus controllers
  1. Look for warning icons
  1. Reinstall problematic drivers

Solution 4: Turn on USB Root Hub

  1. Click on the Start >> type devmgmt.msc & press Enter key.
  2. Open Device manager >> expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers.
  3. Right-click on the USB Root Hub >>Properties >> Power Management option.
  4. Now, uncheck the Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
  5. Repeat this process again and again for each USB Root Hub in the list and reboot.

Solution 5: Use SysTools Recovery Software for Hard Drive

If no any manual procedures work, then you can choose a reliable solution like SysTools Hard Drive Recovery tool. Because this tool is capable to repair all type of corruption and problem in the hard drive that can easily detect the unrecognizable external hard drive. Apart from this, the tool also provides various advanced features which make it first choice of users.

Should You Use CHKDSK on an External Hard Drive?

CHKDSK can help you repair your minor file system issues only but it should be used carefully on an external hard drive that contains important data as the utility directly modifies your file system structure to fix errors which can sometimes create additional problems. And in severe corruption cases, CHKDSK may orphan files, remove damaged directory entries or it can worsen existing file system damage. If your external hard drive shows as RAW, crashes repeatedly or if it makes unusual noises then recover your data first before running CHKDSK.

WARNING – AVOID RUNNING CHKDSK BLINDLYIf the external drive contains sensitive data then you should recover your files first before attempting hard repairs.

Recover Data from RAW or Inaccessible External Hard Drive

If your external hard drive is showing up in Disk Manager or only showing up in Device Manager but not opening in File Explorer then the problem is more likely to be related to the memory failure than the overall physical failure. Often the partition becomes RAW, the file location is corrupted or the drive certificate is corrupted, preventing Windows from accessing the stored data normally. But the good news is that this condition still offers a high chance of successful data recovery from RAW drive because your drive remains partially readable by the system.

Check if the drive is:

  • Detected in Disk Management,
  • Visible in Device Manager,
  • But inaccessible in File Explorer,

Then the problem is logical corruption rather than complete hardware failure. This is the safest stage for non-destructive recovery.

Final Words

Sometimes, people need an answer to a question why my external hard disk cannot be detected. Hence, we have come back with all possible reasons and solutions to fix this External hard drive are not identified an issue. However, if users want a quick and fast recovery then they can opt the recovery tool.